The Shanghai Museum agreed Friday to lend a pair of porcelain vases to the "National Palace Museum" of Taiwan adding to a display of 37 artifacts loaned by Beijing's Palace Museum.

The vases will be displayed at the exhibition on Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in October in Taiwan under one of the agreements reached in Taipei Friday between the Shanghai Museum and the "National Palace Museum" of Taiwan.

Chen Xiejun, director of the Shanghai Museum, began his visit in Taiwan on Thursday.

The vases, produced in the reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735), had never been put on display at home or abroad, Chen said.

The two sides also agreed to start annual exchanges of experts and officials, promote academic cooperation, exchange publications and research documents as well as work together in hosting exhibitions.

The two museums could jointly borrow collections from foreign museums and put them on show by turn, said Feng Ming-Chu, deputy director of the Taiwan museum.

"The flight between the two cities is just 80 minutes. We can share the cost so that more valuable collections will be displayed on both sides," she said.

Chou Kung-shin, director of the Taiwan museum, returned from a six-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai on Feb. 19.

Zheng Xinmiao, director of the Palace Museum in Beijing, is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua